


The Night of Sevens

by the_escapist



Category: Tales of the Otori - Lian Hearn
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 18:38:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4490409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_escapist/pseuds/the_escapist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Some men love love, but Muto Taku was not one of them, nor had he ever been smitten by the passion that wants to devote itself only to the beloved.”<br/>Pg. 280, The Harsh Cry of the Heron.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night of Sevens

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this years ago and left it sitting on my hard drive, intending to write more, but never getting around to it (as usual). Sometimes, when I'm struggling to write, I'll read through my copious amounts of unfinished writing, and so I read this again today ... and I think it is finished.
> 
> Because I can't even remember such details from the books, I'm trusting my past self with the particulars. I'll probably read the books again at some point, but as it is, it's been way too long. My notes from back then:
> 
> Set in Inuyama on the night of the Tanabata festival shortly before Hiroshi takes the stewardship of Maruyama. I think I'm taking liberties with the time-line, because this is between Brilliance of the Moon and The Harsh Cry of the Heron, and the details in the book are vague – how old was Hiroshi when he “fervently wanted to marry” Hana, for example? It's been a while since I read them anyhow. Also, canon slash FTW!

It was the evening of the seventh, and Inuyama was celebrating. Through the town centre and along the riverbank, lanterns of every colour decorated the trees and the buildings. The sound of drums and lutes filled the streets, the large Odaiko's reverberating beat pulsing through the festivities like a heart.  
  
Muto Taku's laugh was joyous and full as it cut through the air and rose above the music. Beside him, Sugita Hiroshi followed his gaze past the people of Inuyama as they danced and celebrated, and towards Lord Takeo and his wife Kaede, but he could not see what had caused Taku's mirth.  
  
'My brother insists he will marry her someday,' Taku said, his lips curling into a smirk. 'Look at the way he fawns over her.'  
  
It was then that Hiroshi saw them, Muto Zenko and Kaede's sister, Shirakawa Hana. He was leaning towards her slightly as they spoke.  
  
'I would hardly call that fawning.'  
  
Taku laughed again, though not unkindly. 'Forgive me, Hiroshi. I forget that you love her, too. You're not jealous, are you? You shouldn't be.'  
  
'Of course not. I'm not as keen as I once was, and besides, I seem to remember that you were rather taken with her yourself.'  
  
'It's true that she is beautiful, and I would have her,' Taku said, and glanced sidelong at Hiroshi. 'But not as a wife.'  
  
It was obvious to Hiroshi as he turned his attention back to them that Hana was as enamoured of Zenko as he was of her. It seemed a fitting union, and regardless of the fact that Hiroshi had once longed to marry her, he would not regret seeing them together.  
  
'That's not how I remember it,' Hiroshi said. 'But come, let's make our wish.'  
  
Many strips of paper already hung from the bamboo, all fluttering and twisting gently in the wind. Hiroshi and Taku each added their own, and as Hiroshi finished tying his to one of the branches, he turned to speak to his friend only to realise he wasn't there.  
  
Taku had used his tribe skills to play these sorts of tricks many times before, and so Hiroshi didn't search for him amongst the crowd. He knew he wouldn't find him. Instead he made his way to the riverbank, strolling along the shore away from the noise and the light of the lanterns and bonfires. The moon was reflected in the water as a long streak of broken light and it illuminated his path enough for him to see where he was going, but only just. Behind the houses, the shadows were dense.  
  
He was certain Taku would be following him, his tribe skills enabling him to walk as quietly as a ghost, but before long he began to wonder why his friend had not yet tried to scare him. He stopped and looked back the way he'd come, but there was nothing and no-one there. He sighed, and made to keep moving when he collided with something and fell to the ground as its weight came down on top of him. Taku's laughter filled his ears.  
  
'Don't you get tired of the same old tricks?'  
  
'No,' Taku said. 'I wanted to see what you would do. You're going the wrong way, though. The pleasure district is on the other side of town.'  
  
'You're not as funny as you think you are,' Hiroshi said, and tried to get up.  
  
Taku pushed him back to the ground. 'Is that so? Well, you're not as subtle as you think you are.'  
  
There was a teasing in Taku's voice, which was not wholly unusual of itself, but it made Hiroshi uncomfortable.  
  
'What do you mean?'  
  
'You've been giving me that look again.' As he said it, Taku's fingers lightly traced Hiroshi's jaw.  
  
Hiroshi swallowed. 'What look?'  
  
'Do you remember,' Taku said, and shifted, bringing their faces closer together, 'the summer we broke the colts in?'  
  
Hiroshi remembered. He remembered the thrill he'd felt the first time Taku had touched his naked skin. He remembered, in those days, feeling better than he'd ever felt in his life.  
  
'It's the same look you used to give me then,' Taku went on. Gently, the tip of his nose brushed Hiroshi's cheek. 'Do you miss it?'  
  
Had he mind enough to answer, Hiroshi would have said no, but the moment Taku kissed him he knew his answer would not have been the truth. It came back to him all at once – the lust, the heady excitement and the utter freedom in knowing that, if nothing else, he had in life someone he could trust as a true companion.  
  
In the dark it was easy. He didn't have to think about the world of responsibility and obligation awaiting him in the coming months. His time at Inuyama was coming to an end and in the Spring he would go to Maruyama, but as their kiss deepened, all of that fell away.  
  
Taku's hands were on him, struggling with his clothes in the dark without success until eventually frustration got the better of him. He sat up.  
  
'I can't see what I'm doing,' he said. 'And this grass is only going to make us itch. Let's go back to the castle.'  
  
He stood then and helped Hiroshi up, and together they made their way back towards the lights and the people. In the midst of the celebrations once more, it struck Hiroshi as strange. Here the drumming continued and yet on the banks of the river he had not heard it. His world had contracted to himself and to Taku. Over the years, Taku had been his closest friend, his lover, his confidante and his most exacting critic, but he knew they would never be for each other what Kaede was to Takeo, what Zenko would surely be to Hana. Their future lie elsewhere, and it was not without some regret Hiroshi realised this.  
  
'Are you coming?'  
  
Hiroshi had not realised he'd been dawdling, but he saw now that Taku was ahead of him, waiting and watching him with his cheeky, lopsided grin. It was then that Hiroshi truly understood. Taku's friendship meant more to him than anything, and though life would see them walk different paths, he knew he would always have it, and it was one thing which would never change.  
  
He smiled. 'I am.'  
  



End file.
